Hot weather, a little smoke in the Hampton Roads forecast

Hampton Roads residents can expect higher than normal temperatures for the next couple of days, but cooler weather should return later this week.

It does not appear; however, that the forecast will contribute positively to ongoing efforts in Suffolk to extinguish a wildfire in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge that has now grown to more than 1,000 acres and could send smoke into the region.

Larry Brown, a U.S. Weather Service meteorologist in Wakefield, said temperature highs should remain in the low-to-mid 90s through Wednesday with heat indexes around 100 degrees. He said the weather will be drier and not as humid with little chance of rain.

"We're not talking excessive heat, but above average," Brown said. "It's definitely hot, but it could be worse."

The City of Hampton in conjunction with H.E.L.P. Inc. opened a mobile cooling center Sunday. On Monday, it is available to the public at Hampton Baptist Church at 40 Kings Way, in downtown Hampton, said Charlotte Dillow, of H.E.L.P. She said the cooling center would be operational Tuesday as well, but a location was not yet available.

By Tuesday night, a cooler front should bring the possibility of thunderstorms and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s for Thursday and Friday, Brown said.

Rain totals for the year are "dead-on normal," Brown said. But that can be somewhat misleading because much of that precipitation occurred in conjunction with about four days of thunderstorms in July that dumped 10 inches of rain on Norfolk, where measurements are taken, but likely evaporated quickly, he said.

Officials at the Great Dismal Swamp are still battling the blaze, that was fueled Sunday by gusty winds, on the ground and with the help of two helicopters, said Cindy Lane, a refuge spokeswoman.

"The weather is killing us," she said. "With no rain and gusty winds Sunday, the fire is now over 1,000 acres."

Brown said light south winds could push smoke into the Hampton Roads region Monday evening. The prevailing wind is expected to shift again by Tuesday and would keep most of the smoke in North Carolina.

"There will be a little smoke, but I don't think it will be too bad," he said.

Lake Drummond remains off-limits to boaters, Lane said, adding that there have been no injuries in relation to the fire that was ignited Thursday by lightning. But it has since moved under ground in some areas which makes it more difficult to fight, she said.

Lane said the refuge is used to smaller fires in the two-to-ten acre range. In contrast, an unusually large fire burned 5,000 acres in 2008 and took weeks to extinguish.

A "Blue Team" of federal fire administrators — mostly U.S. Forest Service staffers with a higher level of training and access to resources including additional firefighters — are expected to arrive Monday to relive Dismal Swamp officials of command over the current blaze, Lane said.

"Really, if we could get some rain that would be tremendously helpful," Lane said. "Everybody is doing their best. We know the smoke is bothersome — we're doing our darndest to get it put out."